The 12th National Parliamentary Election in Bangladesh, which concluded on Monday, was hailed by visiting international observers as “free, fair, and safe.”
“Considering the overall situation, all the observers present here agree that the 12th National Parliamentary Election of Bangladesh was held peacefully and with the participation of the common people. It was free, fair and very safe,” observer Terry L Easley said at a media briefing at Jatiya Press Club.
The observer from the US said there was no intimidation of voters by the candidates or parties participating in the election. “This bode well for democracy and voting rights.”
“We have heard of some isolated incidents. Like clashes among the supporters of the government’s candidates, independent candidates, and other parties which is unexpected. But if we review the overall election situation, those incidents are very insignificant,” Easley said.
They expressed their gratitude to the Election Commission for organizing the poll in a successful and effective manner.
Within two weeks to a month, they wanted to release their whole findings to the public.
“I found (it to be a) very peaceful, free and fair election,” Jim Bates told reporters at a separate media briefing Sunday evening.
“I’d like to say it’s a free and fair election already,” he added.
“The thing they keep talking about is low turnout: that’s a misnomer. In some countries, voting goes on till 5-6pm or even months,” Bates said.
He said Bangladesh has the shortest voting time in the world.
“So when they say ‘low turnout,’ that’s something to manoeuvre the press,” Bates said.
Bates was a Democratic elected official from San Diego, California, and a former politician. From 1983 to 1991, he was a member of the US House of Representatives for four terms.
Separate media briefings were given by Canadian senator Victor Oh and parliamentarian Chandra Arya.
The independent election observers from Canada said: “Today (Sunday) the citizens of Bangladesh have exercised their fundamental and valuable right to vote and chose their representatives. Today, in the true spirit of democracy, the people of Bangladesh have determined who get their mandate to take the country forward for the next 5 years.”
Chandra Arya said they will now wait to see the newly elected representatives of the people who will shoulder the responsibility of governing the country and deliver the commitments made during the course of the election campaign.
“We noted that even with the call for boycott, a record number of female candidates and a transgender candidate among the 28 political parties and over 1,900 candidates including independents contesting the elections,” he said.
The observers also noted the efforts of the Bangladesh Election Commission to reach out to voters and specifically to the younger generation to encourage them to participate in the elections.
“We confirmed there was a process within the Bangladesh Election Commission to address any complaints from the voters or the political parties or the candidates,” Chandra Arya said.
“We wish to congratulate the Bangladesh Election Commission on successfully conducting a free and fair elections,” he added.
“With one of us being an elected Member of Canadian Parliament and having contested and won three times in row, we are personally aware of the complexity of managing an election.”
The outstanding job done by the Bangladesh Election Commission in assembling all governmental apparatuses and conducting a “free, fair, and successful” election was acknowledged and applauded by the Canadian observers.
Andrey Y. Shuvot, the head of the Russian election monitoring delegation, stated in a separate briefing that they are happy with the peaceful polls.
He assured reporters that these elections were legitimate.
In his succinct remarks, Scottish MP Martyn Day noted that although voter turnout was somewhat low, the election went fairly smoothly.
Chief Electoral Officer of Palestine Hisham Kuhali on Sunday said Bangladeshis should be proud of electoral procedures that are in place and expressed satisfaction over the smooth completion of the vote casting.
“We noticed quiet and peaceful election. We have not noticed any sign of violence,” he told reporters at a media briefing at a Dhaka hotel.
Kuhali said the procedures of casting votes were very simple and straightforward.
“This is very good by international standards,” he said, referring to the time it took to cast a vote.
The international observer said people are well informed and well trained who are helping voters to cast their votes.
When asked how many people cast ballots, he responded, “We are here to judge the voting procedures.” You ought to take pride in your methodology.”
Abdihakim Moalliam, a member of the Arab Parliament, called the election “smooth” and extremely well-run.
Noting that Bangladesh’s democratic experiment was a brilliant example of peace and unity, he expressed his appreciation for it.
The international observers made many center visits.
Currently in Dhaka to watch the 12th national parliamentary election are about 127 international observers.
